The much-awaited sports event Tokyo Olympics 2020 was delayed to 23 July 2021, and now it has been started in full swing. And this time, Mirabai Chanu has become the first Indian athlete to win a medal at Tokyo Olympics. She has won the silver medal in the women’s 49 kg category, thereby earning India its first medal in the event. Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg, which is 87kg in snatch and 115 kg in clean and jerk during her 4 thriving attempts across the competition. With this impressive silver medal, this Indian weightlifter has become the second Indian weightlifter to win an Olympic medal after Karnam Malleswari, who got bronze in the 69 kg at the 2000 Sydney Games when the weightlifting field was opened to women for the first time.

Mirabai Chanu performed her lift of 84 kg in the initial attempt in the snatch with a marvelous start. Later she moved to achieve the 87 kg weightlift with ease but failed to make the 89 kg lift in her last attempt. USA’s Jourdan Elizabeth Delacruz posed the only challenge for the Indian weightlifter for second place in the first half of the game. Delacruz tragically dropped tying her personal best of 89 kg, which should have placed her in the second spot, when judges overruled her.

In this event, China’s Zhihui Hou earned a gold medal with a total of 210 kg and created a new Olympic record. While Zhihui created a world record, Indonesia’s Windy Cantika Aisah took bronze with a total of 194 kg. When Mirabai Chanu gained the silver medal, her performance in the clean and jerk encouraged her a lot. Mirabai completed her first attempt of 110 kg in clean and jerk with ease and improved it later by lifting 115 kg. This 27-year-old athlete has had a constant appearance in global events since 2014.

Chanu has additionally won many world championships and various medals. She had won the silver medal in the women’s 48 kg weight class at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Later, she broke the game's record to the gold medal at the 2018 edition of the Commonwealth. Mirabai Chanu’s most significant achievement came in 2017 when she won a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championships held in the United States. And presently, she has won the silver medal in Tokyo and has made India proud.

Apart from Chanu winning the first medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal has also won India’s first Olympic singles match in 25 years. The Indian hockey team defeated New Zealand by 3-2 in an intense pool A match with a positive opening, and India will next play against Australia on July 25. Sadly, the duo of Deepika Kumari (deepika-kumari) and Pravin Jadhav lost to Korea in the mixed team quarterfinals. Shuttler B Sai Praneeth also crashed in the first round only. In the women’s 10 m Air Rifle Qualification, Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela failed to produce their best. Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal also lost in the first round. Moreover, shooter Saurabh Chaudhary finished 7th in the 10m air pistol final.

Meanwhile, the thrill of the Olympic games will be continued till 8 August 2021. And due to the incredible achievement of Mirabai, there’s a storm of appreciation and tributes on the internet. After she became the first athlete to win a medal from the Indian contingent at the Olympics Games, a spark of joy flooded among Indians through social media. And numerous people congratulated her for her incredible victory.

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Reference:

• www.olympics.com
• www.wikipedia.org